The year is still young, yet it’s already easy to feel drowned in a sea of new book recommendations. While some readers have been diving headfirst into trendy divorce memoirs — or the latest dragon smut (no judgment!) — a wave of deeply personal and thought-provoking releases has made it to bookshelves. The best new nonfiction we’ve read this year explores trauma, the color blue, the devastating shortcomings of western media, and a lifetime’s worth of love and sex.